Category Archives: Pastor’s Desk

Knowing our History

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Rev. Dr. Hartmut Kramer-Mills

Our great heritage became quite a bit more accessible to the residents of New Brunswick when on April 20 the brothers Paul and Pat from Paul’s Custom Awards and Trophies installed our outdoor sign in front of the church. The aluminum-etched sign has a sturdy steel frame and includes pictures as well as text. The text provides pivotal dates of our history, and explains our relation with the denomination, with Rutgers University and with the city of New Brunswick. It also includes detail of our church’s architectural features. Finally, the sign was the last piece of construction required under the current capital grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust. A photograph will be included in our final report to the State. Continue reading →

Posted in General, History, Items of Interest, Pastor's Desk | Tagged | Leave a comment

Creativity and Community

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Rev. Dr. Hartmut Kramer-Mills

As Easter comes upon us, we have a remarkable coincidence with the dawn of a new period of ministry here at First Reformed Church. The reason is that our historic preservation project comes to an end. This means less reporting, less building issues, and less work for the Finance Committee and the Consistory. The Fundraising Committee even had its last meeting.

So, we are resurrecting from construction and paper files and bank statements. Now is the time to become creative again and to continue to nurture the exciting community that has formed around us during the years of brick-and-mortar. It is also important that we invest more efforts, prayer and thoughts in growing our church. What would our meaning be, if we did not try to reach as many of our neighbors near and far in order to offer them participation in God’s peculiar way of relating with us? Continue reading →

Posted in General, History, Items of Interest, Pastor's Desk, Property Committee | Leave a comment

Direction Finding in Our Denomination

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Rev. Dr. Hartmut Kramer-Mills

A Report to Consistory on the RCA Conversations Event
in Orlando, Florida, February 10-12, 2012

This is a time when the general populace views many institutions critically and without much respect. What pertains to banks, hospitals and the various levels of government also pertains to the church.

In front of this background it makes only sense that our denomination extended an open invitation to all RCA congregations and interest groups to send representatives for a few days of opinion polling regarding the future direction of our denomination. The results will be shared with General Synod Council (GSC). From there, they will be forwarded to the 2013 General Synod (GS) and then returned to the various Classes. Continue reading →

Posted in General, Items of Interest, Pastor's Desk | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Mic Check

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Rev. Susan Kramer-Mills

Dear Friends,
I don’t know whether you have followed the Occupy Wall Street movement or the other similar protests that have sprung up around the country, but I have found the various techniques of the groups quite fascinating. For instance, do you know what “Mic check!” means? While listening to a report on National Public Radio, I learned how this shout-out from the anticipated speaker quieted the masses. What this did was to call the people to order and to listen. Continue reading →

Posted in General, Pastor's Desk | Leave a comment

The Rewards of Ministry I: Rutgers Students

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Rev. Dr. Hartmut Kramer-Mills

This week, Barry Smith from Youth Empowerment Services and I met as panelists with about 20
students of Rutgers Student Volunteer Council, located at the nice Student Activity Center overlooking the
Raritan River on George Street. If you consider how much help our church has received in recent years from
Rutgers students, it was about time that we met in the peace of a conference room in order to reflect on the
nature of the work, how it can be enhanced, and how the ties to community organizations like our church
can be intensified. Continue reading →

Posted in General, Items of Interest, Pastor's Desk | Leave a comment

The Rewards of Ministry II: Lunchtime Recitals

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Rev. Dr. Hartmut Kramer-Mills

I had a similar experience earlier this week, albeit from a very different corner. Our Lunchtime Recital with Mrs. Ena Bronstein Barton was a most rewarding event. Seventy-six people attended, among them classes from the Livingston School, as well as from Pine Grove Nursery. In fact, the serving line for lunch afterwards was made up in equal parts by Pine Grove teachers and church volunteers. (See the accompanying pictures.) Continue reading →

Posted in General, Items of Interest, Music, Pastor's Desk | Tagged , | Leave a comment

To Understand Rather Than to Be Understood

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Rev. Dr. Hartmut Kramer-Mills

Brother Roger, the beloved founder of the Taizé Community in France, once observed, “Throughout my life, I had the desire not to prejudge anybody. In relating to everyone, it was essential for me to rather understand than to be understood. In order to understand, faces are even more important than words.”

From here, Brother Roger went on to describe his appreciation of the human face. We, here at First Reformed Church, have been blessed with manifold opportunities for following Brother Roger’s intent. For years, we have participated in the tradition of Taizé. We have also come to realize that peace on earth is only possible if people begin to understand each other and develop empathy and appreciation for each other’s situation. Continue reading →

Posted in General, History, Items of Interest, Pastor's Desk | Leave a comment